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Evaluations of Behaviourist Treatment of Phobias
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Evaluations of Behaviourist Treatment of Phobias
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AO3 Evaluation - Behaviourist Treatment ofPhobias
Systematic Desensitisation
Strengths
A strength of systematic desensitisation is that it is effective in the
treatment of specific phobias. For example, Gilroy et al. (2003) followed
up 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobia in three 45 minute
sessions of systematic desensitisation. Spider phobia was assessed on
several measures, including the ‘Spider Questionnaire’ and by assessing
response to a spider. A control group was treated by relaxation without
exposure. At both 3 months and 33 months after the treatment, the
systematic desensitised group were less fearful than the relaxation group.
This is a strength because is shows that systematic desensitisation is
helpful in reducing the anxiety in spider phobia and that the effects are
long-lasting.
Another strength of systematic desensitisation is that its alternatives -
flooding and cognitive therapies - are not well suited to some patients. For
example, some sufferers of anxiety disorders like phobias also have
learning difficulties. Learning difficulties can make it very hard for some
patients to understand what is happening during flooding or to engage
with cognitive therapies that require the ability to reflect on what you are
thinking. For these patients, systematic desensitisation is probably the
most appropriate treatment.
Another strength of systematic desensitisation is that patients prefer it.
Those given the choice of systematic desensitisation or flooding tend to
prefer systematic desensitisation. This is because it does not cause the
same degree of trauma as flooding. It may also be because systematic
desensitisation includes some elements - learning relaxation procedures -
that are actually present. This is reflected in the low refusal rates (number
of patients refusing to start treatment) and low attrition rates (number of
patients dropping out of treatment) of systematic desensitisation.
Limitations
One limitation of systematic desensitisation is that it works best for
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